


Kintsugi

by MemoryPalaceofWillGraham (JaxCat)



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Episode Tag, Lots of Touching, M/M, Wounds, post-Shiizakana
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-30
Updated: 2014-04-30
Packaged: 2018-01-21 08:09:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1543766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaxCat/pseuds/MemoryPalaceofWillGraham
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will may have broken at one point, but he is mended.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kintsugi

**Author's Note:**

> Set immediately after the end of Shiizakana. Some wishful hopes for what could happen. Un-beta'd.

“I’d say this makes us even. I sent someone to kill you. You sent someone to kill me. Even Steven.”

A bubble of hysterical laughter fought its way up Will’s chest after those words, but he quickly swallowed it down. He watched Hannibal’s considering nod, and listened to the beat of his own heart in the silence. Will wondered if this night was still going to end with him dead, his body laid out on the dining room table next to Randall’s.

Hannibal wasn’t moving. Will felt his hands shaking and knew that he was fighting to keep still, to not go to Hannibal, to clutch and grasp and be consumed. He could feel himself slipping, fading into a nightmare creature of antlers and blood soaked hooves. Hannibal must have seen something in Will’s eyes. He approached, smoothly and slowly, his eyes on Will the entire time. Hannibal stood in front of Will and gathered up his hands in his own, continuing to search his eyes. He bent slightly, and rested his forehead against Will’s, his skin warm as Will shivered.

They stood still, and breathed one another’s breath.

~~~~

After some time, Will returned to himself. Hannibal straightened up, releasing Will’s hands and gently feeling his pulse. Will realized that his skin was clammy and his pulse racing. He had been on an adrenaline high ever since Buster raced out his front door and only now was he coming down. Hannibal was once again pulling him to earth, grounding him.

“Will,” Hannibal said softly, “You have done something of great importance. I don’t want to leave you, but I need to take care of this. Will you be fine for a little while longer?” He guided Will to sit down in a chair. At Will’s nod, Hannibal removed his hands from his shoulders and turned away, swiftly gathering up the body and leaving the dining room. Will wondered dimly where Hannibal was taking it, but the question wasn’t that important to him. He knew he would find out soon enough. Randall still had a part to play in the design taking shape in Will’s mind and he knew Hannibal’s hands would now be there to guide his own. The thought calmed him further. His hands no longer shook.

Hannibal soon returned, appearing from the kitchen with a large porcelain bowl and some towels. He laid out his supplies next to Will. “I need you to listen to me, Will,” Hannibal commanded. “How do you feel?”

_Fine. I feel...fine._

Will realized this was true as his mind cleared fully. He huffed out a tiny laugh. “I’m fine. I know who I am, where I am, and what I’ve done.” Tilting his face up to Hannibal, Will smiled easily and found himself rejoicing in the warmth that flooded Hannibal’s eyes. Hannibal nodded encouragement.

“What happened tonight is something we must explore together. Randall's death. Tell me, did you use your hands?”

“Yes. It felt...intimate.”

“You should be very proud of yourself. I am.”

Will didn’t have anything to say to that, instead letting his hands be picked up delicately and scrutinized with a doctor’s eye. His hands ached and the knuckles was a raw mess, but Will knew he hadn’t broken anything. Hannibal leaned in, and ghosted a kiss across his bloody knuckles before letting them rest in the bowl of warm water. He cleaned and bandaged each hand with the utmost care, so carefully that Will wanted to let him know that he wouldn’t break. He had broken once, but not again.

“Kintsugi.”

“What?” Will realized he had been drifting, lulled by the warmth of Hannibal’s body so near his own and the comfort he found in the study dressings wrapping his hands. Hannibal finished off the last bandage before clarifying.

“You were speaking aloud. You said you had broken, but that you wouldn’t break again. Kintsugi is a Japanese art, of taking broken pottery and repairing it with silver or golden lacquer. The cracks are not hidden, but celebrated. They become a part of the piece and add to its history and beauty. And that is you, my dear Will,” Hannibal murmured, “A piece of art that may have broken at one point but has now grown even stronger and more beautiful.”

Will paused at that, and pulled his hands away. “So you mean I was damaged, and you fixed me.”

“Will, you were never damaged. You may have had cracks, but they were not truly damage. They were just a part of your true self, waiting to be brought to the surface and cherished.”

Will tilted his head, considering, then reached out and grasped Hannibal’s arms. He turned them over, scrutinizing the healing cuts, the black stitches and tender flesh. “Cracks on the inside, brought out and studied. The true soul of the piece revealed.” Will licked his lips and then, hesitantly, bent his head and brushed his lips over Hannibal’s wrists. He repeated Hannibal’s earlier motions, kissing over each healed wound. “Kintsugi,” he said, looking up and raising an eyebrow at Hannibal. “Even Steven.” Will kept his gaze steady, leaning up towards Hannibal, whose lips slightly parted at his approach. “I understand now. I see you. And you see me.”

They kissed, and Will felt the last piece of his soul slide into place.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been intrigued with the idea of kintsugi for some time, and it seemed to make a nice parallel with Will and Hannibal's relationship, especially after the events of Su-zakana and Shiizakana. Thank you for letting me indulge with this episode tag.


End file.
